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Back Snack makes a difference for students
There’s room for disagreement over food pantry policies.
Some believe that the hungry should be fed, no questions asked. Others are willing to help, but would prefer that those who are helped do something to improve their own lives as well.
But few would disagree on one point: In virtually every hungry family, the children go without through no fault of their own.
That’s why we find programs like Back Snack to be so important. The program identifies kids who are at risk, then sends home backpacks full of healthy snacks each weekend.
Harvesters administers the program, and a local effort is trying to get together sponsors who can pay just $200 a year (or $17 a month) to sponsor a student in the program.
And now, an independent study has shown that it does indeed help. The Midwest Center for Nonprofit Leadership evaluated the impact of the 2009-2010 Back Snack program and determined that participating students’ grades, health, attendance, self esteem, sense of responsibility and social skills improved, while discipline issues declined.
For us, that’s just one more reason to support a program that uses voluntary donations for what we feel is a very worthy cause: making sure young people don’t go hungry.
Some time ago I was taking some entrepreneurs visiting from Russia to Southeast Toyota’s new auto processing center in Jacksonville. This facility is very large, and the majority of Toyotas for the southeast come through this operation.
The general manager of the facility was giving us a tour, and we had to walk from one large building to another. Several times during this walk, the general manager stopped and picked up pieces of paper that he saw on the ground. Now, the facility was ultra clean, but this action spoke volumes about the manager’s ability to lead by example. By this simple gesture, the general manager was saying, “I want this facility to be clean, and I am willing to do what is necessary to make this happen.”
Many centuries ago I was working as an engineer for General Telephone in Tampa. There was about to be a strike by the labor union, and they were asking for volunteers from among the management and engineering staff to learn how to climb poles and repair telephone lines. My boss was the first to volunteer, and this really showed me his leadership skills and his commitment to the business.
Examples like these demonstrate leadership not by words, but by actions. However, this can easily be taken too far.
We are currently working with an entrepreneur who was trying to show his staff that in these lean times, he was really going to step up to the plate. He decided to let the building maintenance service go and do the work himself. He truly felt that this action would motivate his staff by demonstrating his willingness to pitch in and help out.
For the last three months, he has gotten up every Saturday morning, driven to the office and spent the day doing the cleanup. He really felt that this was a great way to show the staff that these cuts were serious and that he was willing to do his share.
In this case, however, the entrepreneur had crossed the line from good leadership to questionable leadership. While some of his staff is aware of his efforts, most have remained unaware (until they read this column, that is). However, even if his entire staff does know that he has been doing all the physical work, from empting the trash to cleaning the bathrooms, it is not the image that a staff needs to have of their leader.
While leading by example is great, you should be careful not to cross the line where the work you are doing appears demeaning.
Leadership by example is such an important concept, but it can be taken too far.
Now go out and make sure that you are leading by example without crossing that critical line.
You can do this!
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EXCELSIOR SPRINGS
City Council:
Carolyn Schutte, Mayor
Ambrose Buckman, Mayor Pro Tem
Ken Fousek
Jim Nelson
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John McGovern, Vice President
Roy Arnold
Susan Edwards
Tray Harkins
Jim McCullough
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FEDERAL & STATE
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274 Russell Senate Office Blvd.
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(202) 22-5721
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Senator Claire McCaskill
Washington, DC 20510
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1407 Longworth House Office Bldg.
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Govenor Jay Nixon
P.O. Box 720
Jefferson City, MO 65102
(573) 751-3222
State Sen. Bill Stouffer
Rm. 332, State Capitol
Jefferson City, Mo. 65101
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Rep. Bob Nance
Rm. 201D, State Capitol
Jefferson City, Mo. 65101
(573) 751-1468
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